Read what the riders had to say after today’s free practice.
After the jump more quotes and first images from Catalunya.
Valentino Rossi – 1st 1′43.
038 “We made some changes to our base setting here and already it feels much better to ride.
This practice went very well for us, we were strong from start to finish and to be in first position feels good.
We have found out some very interesting things, especially about my feeling with the bike, but we need to keep on working because there are still some parts that we want to make better for tomorrow.
I am really happy to be able to ride the bike how I want to finally but there is still plenty more work to continue with to make sure we’re in the best possible shape for tomorrow afternoon and Sunday.
” Jorge Lorenzo -2nd 1′43.
320 “I always have a few doubts coming to each new track but today everything felt really good, my bike and my Bridgestone tyres.
I feel very comfortable and we can see that we have the potential to put on a really good performance here.
We have a few things which we can improve so we will try to do that tomorrow but this is another good start for us.
It’s very early to be making any conclusions about who will be fighting on Sunday though and for now we just have to stay focused.
It feels great to be out in front of all my home fans here and I am really happy to have the FC Barcelona stickers on my bike!” Casey Stoner – 3rd 1′43.
636“We didn’t have such a good feeling in the beginning.
We’re trying a few different things on one of the bikes and it’s working really well apart from in two areas.
One is when I’m at full lean on the way into the corner, it feels a bit vague and wants to push me a metre or so wide.
When I’m on the gas again it turns really well.
The other point is that we’re not getting much traction, but we’re getting loads of corner speed and it’s turning really well.
It’s a case of working to find a balance and unfortunately we lost a bit of time at the end because I tipped off it in the hairpin at the end of the back straight.
Basically I’d had a couple of moments before that so I was being a little careful – probably too carteful because I didn’t push the front hard enough in that corner and it went a little light and tucked.
Anyway, we’ve ended up with some reasonably competitive lap times and I’m confident we can go much faster tomorrow.
I’m happy because we know what we’re capable of and it’s just a matter of getting it done now.
”Andrea Dovizioso- 4th 1’ 43.
684 “Today’s result was pretty good and we are not too far from the front which is encouraging – though we still need to close the gap.
This afternoon we worked on the set-up of the bike to improve the handling during corner entry and in the turn, which remains our main issue.
We tried a different set-up solution on the second bike that worked well and I was able to improve the lap time and reduce the gap to the frontrunners.
Fourth place today is a good start but we are still too far from the first three top riders, so we’ll continue to work on this tomorrow.
”Randy De Puniet – 5th 1’43.
871 “I am very satisfied about the first run out.
From the beginning I was up there making my life easier.
I could concentrate on the bike set up trying different front rims sizes and the harder compounds from Bridgestone: it seems to be better for me.
The engine is working well and lapped consistently fast throughout the whole session.
We are behind the “aliens” and this makes us very pleased but I believe we could adjust the engine brake and the traction control to improve our pace for tomorrow’s sessions”.
Nicky Hayden – 6th 1′44.
152“I know it’s only sixth position but still I’m pretty happy because I was running up front throughout the session and having fun, which is what racing is supposed to be about! Basically “Vitto” (Guareschi) stayed on in Mugello and tested a lot and we have changed almost everything on the bike other than the handgrips! We’ve altered the electronics and the geometry a lot to help me get the bike turning and we’ve taken a big step.
I don’t want to get too excited because it’s only Friday and we’ve got to keep working hard but I want to say that I am very grateful to the team and to “Vitto”, Filippo (Preziosi) and “Pippi” (Cristhian Pupulin) and the Test Team in particular.
Nobody here has given up on me even after a few bad races and I have always made it clear I won’t give up on them.
We have had to stay mentally strong and keep positive, even though that hasn’t been easy.
Hopefully we’re on to something here and all the hard work will start paying off.
”Loris Capirossi – 7th 1’44.
340“It has been an interesting practice for us because we tried many different settings and found quite a lot of things out.
At the end of the session I tried the engine with the new specification and it seemed to be a bit of an improvement on what we are using at the moment, but we have to check the data because it makes the bike perform a bit differently.
Overall it has been a good session, but we still need to work a bit more on the set-up to get it perfect for here.
The engine does seem to be an improvement and I want to thank Suzuki for all the hard work, because for us this is very important!”Colin Edwards – 8th 1.
44.
419 “Today I didn’t feel very comfortable at all and I was having an issue with the front-end feeling.
Nothing feels natural and being a front-end guy as much as I am, when the front is not quite right it causes me a problem and today I just couldn’t get a comfortable feeling.
Keeping the front tyre loaded and generating corner speed is the biggest issue and I’m going to sit down with my guys tonight because we need to try and figure out a way to solve it with a better setting.
We’ve always been able to quickly solve our issues this year so I’m confident we’ll come out fighting closer to the front tomorrow.
Today though I hit a bit of a brick wall because I was making some changes to the bike that should have improved my feeling but the lap time wasn’t any better.
I was having a problem getting the bike to turn and it just wasn’t comfortable for me to push.
If I did push the bike would just run wide and that was costing me time.
”Yuki Takahashi – 9th 1’44.
484“We did an important change to our set-up, which is now different from the one experienced at Mugello.
I received immediately a good feeling.
We have something in fine tuning in the suspension area, but I’m positive for the weekend.
”James Toseland – 10th 1.
44.
580“On paper it doesn’t look spectacular but I’m really pleased with today because it was easily my best start to a weekend this season.
I was seventh until the final minutes so that’s encouraging and at the end I was out on quite an old rear tyre, which was moving around quite a bit.
With a new tyre I’m sure I could have got a bit further up, but I wanted to get some information on the hard tyre for the race.
We tried a slightly different setting on the rear shock, softening the spring to try and help the bike cushion the bumps a little bit better here because the track is quite bump to be fair.
At the beginning we’d gone a bit too soft and that was making the rear of the bike sit a bit too low and we had to make a couple of small changes, but my team did a great job as always because it improved the feeling.
We found a bit more grip at the end and I did my best lap on a rear tyre that had already done 16 laps and I was nearly half-a-second quicker than my previous best time, so it shows we’re moving in the right direction.
After today I feel quite confident for the weekend.
It looks like we’ll get a good dry weekend and I had a good result here last year.
So I’m pleased to have something to build on.
”Sete Gibernau – 12th 1’44.
678“I’m happy with the result, which I think is positive, and with my collarbone because it barely bothered me at all and that is really pleasing after the operation.
The last time I finished a race at my home track was in 2005 so to be back here after such a long time is something I looking forward to and its a source of great pride.
Hopefully along with the team we can back into our stride because I think we have room for improvement and we need to work hard tomorrow to secure the best possibile result.
”Chris Vermeulen – 13th 1’44.
744“It’s been good to get a full session in sunny and warm conditions.
I went out with the hard front and the softer of the two rears – which I kept in for the whole session.
I tried some different chassis set-ups between both of my bikes and we have certainly got a good direction.
At the end – with more than race distance on the tyres – I did my fastest laps and moved up the order.
The bike has felt reasonably good all day, but like I said we now have a direction to follow and we are sure that will help with both rear grip and durability of the tyres, because with such high temperatures that will be important this weekend.
Hopefully we still have a long way to go and I am sure we will be making big steps tomorrow.
”Dani Pedrosa – 14th 1’ 45.
043 “It’s my home race and already the atmosphere and support is incredible, but of course this wasn’t one of the best days of riding for me.
I had a pain-killing injection before I rode this afternoon but it’s still very uncomfortable on the bike and this means I wasn’t able to ride at my normal pace.
MotoGP machines are very physical to ride – it’s not like a street bike – so it’s tough when you are not at full strength.
It’s frustrating because this is one of my favourite circuits of the season and also one where I have had a lot of good results.
However, we certainly aren’t going to give up.
It’s a long season and although today didn’t go too well, we’ll come back tomorrow and see what we can do.
”Toni Elias – 15th 1′45.
101“We haven’t started well but it is early and we have to stay positive.
We have a lot of work to do on the chassis, because there is far too much load on the front.
I know I am always complaining about that but at this circuit in particular it is just too much.
We don’t have anything new to test so it is down to us to keep coming up with new ideas, experimenting and trying to find a solution with what we have.
Unfortunately sometimes you have to go down the wrong road in order to realise which is the right one so hopefully that’s the case for us today.
My Gaudi helmet design is from when we raced here in 2007 and I decided to wear it again simply because I love it!”Alex De Angelis -16th 1′45.
126 “We’re still struggling for rear grip, as we have been doing all season, and the bike is sliding around a lot but the truth is that this is our only problem.
We really need to sort it out because other than that the bike feels great.
The engine is really strong and in a straight line we are really fast but we need to transfer that to the corners.
We had a little problem with the front forks in the first part of the session, they weren’t working well and I ran wide in one corner but luckily the run-off was asphalt and I was able to keep it upright.
We changed the forks and it improved things a lot, even on a used tyre, but we still have plenty to do tomorrow.
”Mika Kallio – 17th 1′45.
394“Just like almost all other weekends of race, in the first half of the first session we manage to stay in a good position, but after we changed set up of the bike we lose too many positions.
Anyway the feeling with the bike has improved a lot compare to the last race in Mugello.
I think that tomorrow, if we will manage to find the right balance on the bike we will make it to enter the top ten.
With the new technical solutions the bike seems to have less power, most of all in the first three gears, but in the turns is much more easier to control.
Tomorrow we will try to increase the power in the first three gears to understand the bike’s reaction.
”Niccolò Canepa – 18th 1′45.
454“When we have some technical updates we need some time to adapt to it, but we have to consider our self satisfied on how things went today.
As base set up we have done a really good job and race after race we get closer to the other riders.
This is a track where I have ridden before for only a few laps, but I liked it straight away.
Tomorrow we will fight to improve our position for Sunday’s starting grid.
” Gabor Talmacsi – 19th 1’47.
654“The bike is amazing.
It’s so difficult to explain, as I’ve never felt this kind of power, this kind of braking feeling, the grip of the Bridgestone tyres… it’s another world! Of course, I need more laps in order to improve, but I think that I can do it!” First Images from Catalunya FP1
